The Nashua Area Radio Society (NARS) leadership saw that there may be a lot of latent interest in Parks On The Air (POTA) and portable HF radio operation but club POTA events were not very well attended. Some members had noted that they would like to get involved with POTA but didn’t know how to start. Not knowing about portable operation and not necessarily having the right equipment, folks were reluctant to attend a POTA event. The leadership decided to kick off a “Tiger Team” of interested members in the summer of 2023 to concentrate knowledge in this type of radio operations and share it with all interested members. [Full story]
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Dr. Philip Erickson, W1PJE, Named Director of Haystack Observatory
If you attended the grand banquet at the 2022 HamXposition you saw Dr. Erickson give a terrific presentation on HamSCI and Haystack Observatory’s ionospheric investigations. —Thanks, K1FVK
MIT News article: https://news.mit.edu/2023/
ARRL President Rick Roderick’s Inspirational Keynote “Strikes a Chord”
When Ken Miller, WB1DX, and his wife, Michele, KC1TIW, attended the 2023 Northeast HamXposition and heard ARRL President Rick Roderick’s inspirational keynote address, Ken was moved by Mr. Roderick’s message and wrote a letter to the ARRL. It was published in the January, 2024 issue of QST under “Correspondence:”
New England Sci-Tech Hosts Lexington Boy Scout Troop
From ema.arrl.org:
Seventeen boys and girls from the Lexington BSA scouts participated in a three-hour program at New England Sci-Tech in Natick [MA] toward their radio merit badge, electronics merit badge, and amateur radio license.
For two groups over two weekends, Jon Lyna, George Lyna, Rusty Moore, K1FVK, and Bob Phinney, K5TEC, led radio and electronics activities. Scout leader John Aldridge created the curriculum which he and Bob plan to make a regular program for scout activities at New England Sci-Tech.
Algonquin ARC Flea Market, Marlboro MA, February 17, 2024
The Algonquin ARC, a strong supporter of the Northeast HamXposition, is holding its annual flea market on Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 9 AM until 1 PM at the 1Lt Charles W. Whitcomb School (formerly Intermediate/Middle School), 25 Union Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
“Gerry’s Ham Radio Life: 48 Years of W1VE”
YouTube video blogger Kevin Thomas, W1DED, interviewed Gerry Hull, W1VE, recently:
“There are many hams who can claim five decades of amateur radio but there are few who have been immersed in so many facets of the hobby as Gerry Hull, W1VE. Gerry is active throughout his native Canada with several VE callsigns, he’s well known for his expertise in the remote ham radio space, he’s consulted for and operated the AA7JV Radio-in-a-Box project, and was instrumental in creating the online contest scoreboard concept. He’s a competitive contester, consummate DXer, technical writer, a long-time member of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, and more. In this interview, Gerry talks specifically about his recent CQ WW CW multi-op contest effort at the Maine superstation, K1LZ, and then we do a speed round of questions that cover some of his nearly 50 years in ham radio.”
[Gerry was Co-Chair of the 2023 Northeast HamXposition special event station W1A.]
YLRL Annual Award Deadline, January 1, 2024
YLRL posted on the Young Ladies Radio League Facebook page:
YLs—if you are participating in YLRL’s Annual Award event, please get your application in by Jan 1, 2024.
Award for 2023 is given for working 12 YLs on-the-air, without help from the Internet aids to ham radio contacts. FT8/FT4 do count, as signals go out over your radio and antennas. Official log sheet is on the website (www.ylrl.net) under YLRL Certificates. Deadline for submission is 01/31/2024.
Meriden (CT) ARC’s MARCONI Project: Mentoring Radio Clubs
The Meriden Amateur Radio Club (MARC), an ARRL Special Service club in Wallingford, Connecticut, has created an innovative program known as MARCONI, “Motivating Amateur Radio Clubs to Open New Initiatives.” The brainchild of MARC President Dr. Ed Snyder, W1YSM, MARCONI seeks to empower radio clubs to mentor other clubs who may be “less robust” or active.
Funded by an ARRL Foundation club grant through ARDC, MARCONI focuses on seven different areas or “activity programs:”
1. POTA
2. Fox Hunting
3. CW Training
4. Satellite Communications
5. VE Sessions
6. Served Agencies
7. NCS Training and Traffic Passing
According to W1YSM, MARC has made good progress in all of the programs. “Since the six-month [progress report] we have added an eighth program to MARCONI: Radio Amateur Balloon Science.”
Dr. Snyder presented on the MARCONI project at the 2023 Northeast HamXposition; the talk was well-received.
Kudos to the Meriden Amateur Radio Club for implementing this innovative program to benefit other radio clubs!
New England Sci-Tech Students Participate in Cubes in Space Experiments
“New England Sci-Tech students participate in the Cubes in Space program run by iEDU inc. where they create and present experiments that, if selected, launch into near-space on a NASA sounding rocket or zero pressure scientific balloon. This year, the students taking part in Cubes in Space proposed an experiment to test the viability of launching spray-dried blood into space for rehydration in a zero-gravity environment to treat traumatic injury in space.”
Since porcine blood most closely matches human blood, team is researching if APC’s products could treat traumatic injury in space. [Full story]
HamXposition 2024 Kicks Off With Comedy!
Start your convention visit off on a laugh with the newest addition to our HamXposition line up! We’re pleased to announce that the 2024 Northeast HamXposition will kick off with a comedy at by world-renowned comedian Juston McKinney.
Juston has starred in numerous Comedy Central shows including his half-hour Comedy Central Presents and his one-hour special “Juston McKinney-A Middle-Class Hole.” He has multiple appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien as well as a Showtime Special with Rob Gronkowski. He has also appeared twice at Denis Leary’s, Comics Come Home at the TD Garden.
Tickets are just $35, and also available as part of our “Convention Plus” package.
Seating will be limited to 250 persons, so don’t delay!